Mounting a live-action blockbuster is a huge process, wrangling hundreds of people in various jobs, organizing and planning every day down to the tiniest detail and hoping you don’t run into any problems along the way. Thankfully, it all gets wrapped up in a few weeks time, and then everyone goes home and takes a big nap, while the film is cut up by the editors in a comfortable room with cozy chairs.
Animation is a whole other beast, and adding stop-motion puppetry to the mix, as is the case with the upcoming Frankenweenie, only complicates the matter further. Produced over several years with a core group of designers, craftsman and animators toiling over thousands of puppets day after day after day, a stop-motion movie swaps out the collaborative crew and thespian ensemble for painstaking, frame-by-frame filmmaking. Whereas director Tim Burton could rattle off a few five minute takes between Johnny Depp and Helena Bonham Carter in under an hour, animators on Frankenweenie take Burton’s word then spend days crafting a shot that may last only seconds in the finished product. And that’s assuming the take looks fantastic the first time!
Based on Frankenweenie‘s first trailer, it looks like Burton’s crew is nailing the imagination we’ve come to expect from the director’s animated efforts, assembling an otherworldly, black and white reality that pays homage to the horror classics that inspired the director when he was a kid. To get a behind the scenes look at how a film like Frankenweenie really comes to life, check out these never-before-seen snapshots from the puppet workshop and footage of Burton roaming the sets, bringing his plastic creations to life.
Frankenweenie hits theaters October 5, 2012.
Follow Matt Patches on Twitter @misterpatches
More:
‘Frankenweenie’ Trailer: Tim Burton’s Stop-Motion Magic
Tim Burton Tells Hollywood.com About Bringing ‘Frankenweenie’ to Life
Tim Burton Talks ‘Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter’ in New Featurette
[Photo Credit: Walt Disney Pictures]
